A light, convenient plow is needed for automobile owners who wish to plow their laneway without having to own or have access to a snowplow.
There is therefore provided, a plow constructed of a pair of hinged plates which form such a plow when attached to to the rear, or to the front, of an auto.
Plows have previously been provided which will mount on an automobile but, as far as I know, have not been made in collapsible form so that they may be easily lifted on the automobile and easily lifted off the automobile, and folded into parallel relationship for storing in the automobile or elsewhere when not in use.
In accord with a broad aspect of the invention a pair of hinged plates are designed to have an inner and an outer face relative to the auto and a lower edge approximately perpendicular to the hinge axis. The inward faces of each of the plates are provided with means for mounting that plate on one side of an auto chassis outward of the auto, with said plates and the hinge axis approximately vertical. The mounting will be designed to allow the plates to move up and down relative to the automobile in accord with ground contours. The pivotally connected plates are designed in use to assume an angle of 270.degree. and 240.degree. between the outer faces, and when not in use are adapted to collapse to an angle where the inner faces are adjacent and nearly parallel.
In accord with a preferred form of the invention a pair of shafts in parallel and approximately vertical orientation are provided for mounting on the rear or the front of a vehicle outwardly of any bumper. A pair of hinged plates are designed to have an inner and an outer face relative to the automobile. The inward faces of the plates are provided with brackets adapted to slide on and off said standards. The plates should be dimensioned and the brackets located so that the hinged plates will when mounted on the standards assume an angle (measured between the outer faces) of between 270.degree. and 240.degree.. An angle of less than 240.degree. between these outer faces will risk buckling of the plates under plowing conditions. I prefer to use an angle of about 250.degree..
Preferably the extent of the plates below the bracket mount is sufficient that the plates are supported by their ground support means above the lower limit of their possible sliding travel on the shafts. The standards are further designed so that there is a substantial vertical extent through which the plates may slide on the standards to conform to various ground heights. This will allow the plates in use to slide upwardly and downwardly on the standard to conform to small changes in ground contour.
The mounts for the parallel shafts on the automobile may be widely varied within the scope of the invention. However, it is noted that in the preferred form the shafts 20 are mounted on the outward end of arms attached to the chassis and extending under the bumper. Since the bumper and chassis height relative to the ground will vary widely from automobile to automobile, the mount is preferably designed to give a relatively wide choice of heights of the arm relative to the chassis.
In a preferred aspect of the invention each plate is provided with both left and right hand mounting means so that only a simple die is required since each plate may act as a right or a left plate.
In drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention: